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Help with Mirror Components

I find the Help files on Mirror Components to be a bit lacking and there are some details about how the command works that I'm not sure about.

I created a top level assy to which is added a sub-assy. I've then used the "mirror component" command to create another sub-assy (I'll call it "sub-assy_mirror) in the to level, which is mirrored about a reference plane. Some of the parts are now also handed.

What I don't understand is quite how the associativity works. For example, if I change the distance betwen the reference plane and the source sub-assy, the sub-assy_mirror does not alter its position to suit.

So, is it that once the mirrored assy has been created, it has a definition buried somwhere of how the mirror plane was initially? Can I delete the mirror plane? What happens if I change the position of the sub-assy relative to the mirror plane in another configuration? Does the mirror command care about configs?

Any insight would be much appreciated.

John H

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John H
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Mirror components has never been close to working as advertised. Swx seemingly gave up on it years ago, and they do not discuss it.

When the mirror copies are created, they are not constrained to anything. There is associativity of the components, but not of the positions of the mirror copies. You will need to make all mates just like you did on the originals. If you want the new sub to move with the original, you'll need to symmetry mate at least one of the components back to one of the originals.

bill

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bill allemann

Bill,

Did you ever have time to play with my procedure for mirrored assemblies? I never saw any replies (positive or negative) about it. I know it's a little confusing, but once one get to concept, it seems to work (but for the BOM)..

Keith Streich

PS The post was titled "Repost - Mirror Components in Assemblies Issue" dated Wed, 28 Jun 2006 20:46:35 GMT

PS PS How does one link to a previous post?

Reply to
Keith Streich

Yes, I was rapidly coming to the conclusion that the command was crap. Even I-DEAS, which was never really aimed at the machinery market, has a great mirror assembly command.

When you say there is "associativity of the components", does the mirrored part just have it "hard coded" into it where the mirror plane position was at the time of creation?

Thanks, John H

Reply to
John H

Actually, the mirror plane is only used and relevent to the creation of the mirrored components. After that, the position of the mirrored components is controlled ONLY by new mates that you put on them, just like you would with any other parts (contrary to what the option about "recreating mates" would imply). It is much quicker, if the assembly design is finished and static, to just fix all the mirrored components.

I think several years ago, I was able to get a mirrored mate created on a very simple block assy sample, but I've never seen one happen on a real assembly.

You might get in touch with Keith Streich (who also posted on this thread) about his method. It looks pretty interesting and may work for you.

Bill

Reply to
bill allemann

My apologies, Keith, but I was away from assemblies for a while, so I never persued it (and the BOM issue may have put me off at the time).

I'm not sure is there is a more direct way, but I googled the message, and the link is

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Bill

Reply to
bill allemann

SW only states that mirror places parts in approximately the right location. Or you could say a visually correct location. It is not always able to reestablish mates in a mirrored fashion. The bottom line is that mirror does the work of copying and placing part and sometimes reestablishing mates. There is no doubt that a lot of labor can be saved from this alone. But it is not going to behave like a mate in that locations will update if geometry changes. That is what the mates are for. Some kind of batch mating tools is still needed to finish what mirror generaly can do a good job of starting.

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Just curious, where has swx stated "SW only states that mirror places parts in approximately the right location" ?

That would seem to be antithetical to the option in the mirror copy dialog that states "Recreate mates to new components" (which, of course, has never worked).

Even though real mirroring would be a very powerful function (much more than all the gimmick stuff they've been adding for years), I think the programming of it apparently hit the wall years ago, and swx has given up on it. Maybe it was a contract dispute with whoever was supposed to create the mod. For years now, swx as been extremely tight lipped about it.

Bill

Reply to
bill allemann

I think the quote was more exactly, "SW only states that mirror places parts in visually the right location"

That comment was passed down from a VAR. It won't be found in help or anywhere else. I think it can be verfied by making an assembly and then using the measure tool to determine locations of unmated mirrored parts. So even using fix part might not yield expected results. Any written reference to this would be through the vague stipulation in the EULA that the customer must determine whether SW is suitable for their purposes which is what a lot of experienced SW users do. Ed Eaton and Matt Lombard come to mind as good examples of this.

SW is like the weather, you can listen to what the weatherman says or carry an umbrella. You will be drier if you carry an umbrella.

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